It's Hardly Over
by Captain Bright Eyes
Summary: Jareth is not a man who loses. The game doesn't end until he's satisfied with the end. Even if it takes years, Jareth wins in the end. Now it was time to finish the game that Sarah started so many years ago.


Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Labyrinth characters. All characters belong rightfully to the Henson people. I'm just an admirer of Jim Henson's genius.

She was smiling, and what a beautiful smile at that. It was hard to keep track of her through all the activity in the room, but he always had his eye on some part of her. Her hair, her arm, her leg, her face...her young, innocent face. Feathers ruffled, and if he could have, he would have sighed deeply. There had been such a fierce determination on her face when she had been fighting her way through the Labyrinth. He had been unable to focus his attention on anything other than that face that had yet to be marred by times unforgiving brush. Her features were riding on the edge of womanhood, starting to emerge from beneath the rounded layer of innocence and become more defined. They held a seductive promise of great beauty one day, a beauty that was already making itself known in little ways. It would always show itself at the oddest moments. Like when she was concentrating on a certain task, it would unveil itself to the world. Or when she was frightened, the beauty that was yet to come would show and be frightened too. Or when she cried...when she cried, she had been the most beautiful of all. Crystalline tears leaving tracks over reddened cheeks, an understanding in her expressive blue eyes. It was the moment she had truly shed her youth for him. And the moment that he had to say goodbye to her.

He couldn't bear to be an outsider any longer. So much happiness surrounding her, happiness that he was responsible for yet would never take credit. She would never expect that it was he who was responsible for allowing her friends to be there in her room tonight. All that merriment going on with her as it's center, and he the outsider, forced to watch from a tree limb outside of her bedroom window. Forced to watch the only source of beauty in his world drift further and further away from him as he took to the sky, his wings flapping furiously. He had to fly away from the pain, escape the ache that existed in her, exuded from her. There would be a time for this to be resolved. But that time was not now. Now she was too fresh, too soft to bear the blows that she would have to bear when they came head to head. Passion was a concept she was just beginning to explore, only just beginning to get a taste for it and learning to savor. When she was older, when her outer shell was harder and better able to protect her, that would be their time. When the armor of womanhood shrouded her youth, they would meet again.

Inside the room, only Hoggle noticed the white barn owl taking off from the tree outside of Sarah's window. He looked back at Sarah and then back out the window. She didn't need to know...it was better that she didn't know.

_Ten years later..._

The day was going so slowly. Sarah made a face, eyeing her collection of crystals that covered her windowsill. She touched the large crystal orb that sat in the middle of the menagerie, letting her fingertips trace over the smooth surface. She couldn't remember where her fascination for crystals had started, just that she took an odd comfort from their cold clarity. She could spend hours with her crystals, polishing and rearranging them, holding them up to the light and watching the light separate into beautiful rainbows. The look on her face changed into a serene smile as she picked up a large orb and leaned back into her chair. Sometimes she found herself convinced that if she stared long enough, the crystals would reveal her dreams. She sighed and twisted in her chair till the crystal hit the light just right to pour a beautiful rainbow over her paper covered desk.

"Sarah!"

Sarah jumped, dropping the heavy crystal to the floor with a dull thud. She stared at her phone dumbly for a moment as if she was unable to figure out what she was supposed to do next.

"Sarah!" the voice boomed from the speaker on her phone once more. She leaned over and pushed the intercom button.

"Yes sir?" she asked quietly, biting her lip as her eyes nervously landed on the crystal ball that was rolling across the floor. If he had seen her playing with her crystals again instead of doing her work, she'd be in for it. Her boss had told her time and time again that if he caught her playing with those damn crystals instead of working one more time, she'd be sacked. Being sacked was something she couldn't afford. She had Toby to think about now, and despite the fact that he was sure he could take care of himself, that he was quite grown up enough for that at ten years of age, it was her responsibility to provide for him.

"Have you finished editing those papers for me yet?"Sarah cringed as her bosses voice boomed over the voice boomed over the intercom. She turned to look at the ever growing stack of files on her desk and winced. The files seemed to have multiplied into two ever growing stacks within a matter of a few minutes.

"I'm working on it sir," she replied, using the acting lessons her mother had given her from time to time to keep her voice neutral. Her hand felt blindly for a red pen as her eyes raced over the paper that was laying closest to her.

"Well get to it then," her boss replied, "I need to see progress at the end of the day," and with that, the exchange was over. She knew those words were a warning and couldn't help glancing at the stack of files in dismay._ For Toby_, she thought to herself,_ I can manage this for Toby's sake_.


End file.
